Our Man Utd midfielder is giving back: Juan Mata's Common Goal

Today, I am launching something that I hope will help to
change the world, even if only in some small way. And I hope that other
footballers around the world will help me in this goal. But before I
tell you about it, I must tell you what football means to me.

To do that we have to start with something that I will never forget.

I can still see the cross coming in. I can see the ball bouncing off
Thomas Muller's head, looping over Petr Cech and then hitting the
crossbar and going in. And then I remember the sound. I couldn't even
hear myself think … it was just pure electricity.

Bayern Munich had scored in
Munich, in the 83rd minute of the 2012 Champions League final to go up
1-0 on Chelsea - my team. I don't know if I've ever heard a sound like
that before.

A few seconds later, I was standing at the center
circle of the Allianz Arena, waiting for the Bayern players to stop
celebrating the goal that they thought had just won the match. Didier
Drogba, my Chelsea teammate, walked up to me to restart play. Didier never
had his head down - never looked discouraged - but now he did. And I
couldn't understand why. We had gone through so much to get to the
final. Our manager had been sacked a few months before, then we had come
from behind to beat Napoli in the round of 16, then we had survived
with 10 men at Camp Nou in the semifinals. And now … what? It was over?

For some reason I just kept thinking, We are destined to win this thing.

I'm a pretty quiet person, and I think when Didier saw me encouraging him to keep going, he couldn't help but smile.

He said, "OK, Juan. Let's go."

We were surrounded by 50,000
screaming German fans, but down on the pitch, Didier and I knew that we
just needed a chance. And five minutes later, we got one. We won a
corner. I lined up over the ball and Didier came running to the near
post. You remember, yes?

I think every Chelsea fan remembers Martin Tyler's call.

"Drogbaaaaaaaaaaaaa! They've pulled the rabbit out of the hat again! Chelsea will just not let go in the Champions League!"

After we scored that equaliser … I just knew. Even
when we went to penalty kicks, I still knew. And when Didier stepped up
to take the final penalty, I was sure he was going to score. I think
the expression on his face after the ball went in said everything. He
didn't know whether he wanted to cry or laugh. He was overwhelmed, like
we all were.

And as soon as the craziness died down - I
immediately thought of my family. Every one of them was there in the
crowd that night: my dad, mom, grandparents, friends. I knew the
penalties must have been stressful for them - especially my poor
grandmother.

Later on, someone told me that she had been so
nervous that she actually had to hide in the bathroom toward the end of
the match.

As we were celebrating, I looked around at my
teammates, and I saw the beauty of football. A keeper from the Czech
Republic. A defender from Serbia, and another from Brazil. Midfielders
from Ghana, Nigeria, Portugal, Spain and England. And, of course, one
incredible striker from Cote D'Ivoire.

We came from all over the world, from different circumstances, and spoke
many different languages. Some had grown up during wartime. Some had
grown up in poverty. But there we were, all standing together in Germany
as champions of Europe.

The way we had come together from all over the world to work for a
common goal was more meaningful to me than the trophy. To me, that is
something that can change the world for the better.

I am very
lucky. I was born into an incredibly supportive family in northern
Spain. My father was a former footballer - a tricky winger. He was left
footed, like me, but (I will admit) he was faster. He loved to dribble
at players. I remember watching video cassettes of his old matches at
our house in Oviedo. Watching him play made football look fun. That's
how I wanted football to be for me, too.

And that's how things
were for me as a kid - it's how I was raised. Even though my father was a
footballer, I was never forced to play football. My parents, Juan and
Marta, wanted me and my sister, Paula, to experience everything life had
to offer.

The first autograph I ever signed wasn't because I was
good at football. It was actually because I was really good at trivia -
like general academic questions, but harder. When I was 13 I was chosen
for a team to go to a regional competition where we had to answer around
200-300 questions. We ended up winning, and the next day all the
younger kids at school wanted our autographs.

A few weeks later, my trivia team went on a trip to Austria, Germany,
Liechtenstein and Switzerland. That trip was my first time really
getting to see how people in other countries lived. At such a young age,
it gave me a different perspective on the world. I didn't know
everything. But I knew that I wanted to see more.

When I was 15, football gave me that chance.

I
had just finished a match with my local region team, Asturias, and my
dad was taking me home like he usually did. But this time, we went a
different way. We pulled into a parking lot where only one other car was
parked. There was a man waiting for us … and I recognized him. He was
one of the head scouts for Real Madrid. I'd seen him at a few of our
matches.

My father spoke with him for a couple of minutes, and then he came
back to the car and told me that Madrid wanted to sign me. I was so
overwhelmed … I didn't really know what to think. Madrid? Real Madrid? Wants me?

I
spent the next few days talking it over with my family. It was hard for
my mom and dad to just send me off to a big city like Madrid, but our
family has this saying: "Sometimes the train doesn't come twice in
life."

On that day, it had come for me. And I knew that it might never come again.

I
also spoke with my grandfather, who was my biggest fan. He was the one
who had taken me to training sessions and matches when my parents were
busy. He had watched every single one of my matches, too. He told me to
follow my heart, and that my dream of being a professional footballer
required risks.

When people talk about football, it's usually
about money or trophies. But football also provides something else to
young people. It provides real-life experience. And sometimes real life
is difficult.

At Madrid's youth academy, I learned how to live
alone and to be away from my parents for weeks at a time. When you're on
your own, you discover things about yourself. I thought a lot about all
of the hard work and the sacrifices that my parents and grandparents
had made to get me to where I was. And I realised that I had a
responsibility to them to work hard and make the most of my chance. But
at a club like Madrid - which at the time had players like Beckham,
Figo, Zidane, Roberto Carlos and many others - it can be hard to do
that.

So in the summer of 2007, I signed with Valencia. I wish I could tell
you that my time there was perfect, but it wasn't. I think we changed
managers three times in my first season. I was a 19-year-old, surrounded
by all these players in their mid-30s. My family was worried for me.
Especially my grandfather. He came to a lot of matches in Valencia. And
when he wasn't there, he would watch on TV. He never missed a match of
my professional career. I remember calling him one night when I was
struggling, and I'll never forget what he said to me.

"Your football and your career, Juan, they give me life. I feel so proud and I am filled with hope when I watch you."

That call had a tremendous impact on me - and on the way I thought
about football. What I was doing in my career wasn't just about me. It was about us.
I was playing because I brought joy to people in different ways than
just by scoring goals. My grandfather was the living embodiment of this
feeling, and after I realised that I made sure to keep that thought with
me at all times.

I think of my four years at Valencia as my
"master's degree," because that's where I learned the art of football
and gained valuable perspective on life.

My time in England was
like the real world that comes after university. It was filled with
tremendous highs - two club Player of the Year trophies at Chelsea and a
Champions League title. But also some lows. My third year in London was
difficult. I fell out of favour in the squad and I began to question my
own ability. But I never felt any bitterness toward anyone. That's not
how I was raised.

I care deeply about relationships. In football,
this can be tricky. When I left Chelsea for Manchester United, I still
cared about the club. I wanted to make sure they got an appropriate fee
and that I could maintain my connection with the people in London. And I
hope I did that.

But I'm a Red Devil now. And I wouldn't have it
any other way. There are great clubs in the world, and then there is
Manchester United. I learned pretty quickly what that meant. In my
second season with United, I scored a bicycle-kick goal against
Liverpool at Anfield, and today - no matter where our team is in the
world - it's almost always the first thing people ask me about. I come
from a small town in Spain, where maybe a few thousand people saw me
score goals, but now I score goals that people see whether they live in
Oviedo or Los Angeles - or Beijing or Melbourne. The United family is
worldwide, and almost every day I am reminded of the power football has
to unite people all around the world.

My love for United supporters has grown every year I've been in
Manchester. I'm glad to have given them moments like that one against
Liverpool. But in February, I needed the people of Manchester to help
me.

My grandfather - who had still never missed a professional
match of mine - was really sick. I remember FaceTiming with him when I
was on the bus after we had beaten Saint-Etienne 1-0 in France in a
Europa League match. His voice was weak… I could tell that he was
struggling. His words came out slowly, but he told me that my assist to
Henrikh Mkhitaryan during that match had been great.

That was probably the most special assist of my life. Because it was
the last one my grandfather ever saw. A few days later, he passed away.

You
know when something important happens in your life and you remember
exactly where you are? I remember everything from that match and the bus
ride home. And I hope that when I see my grandfather again we can speak
about it.

I flew to Spain to go to his funeral a short time
later. When I came back to Manchester and turned on my phone, I saw all
the messages from the United supporters on social media - and it meant
the world to me. I wish I could have hugged everyone who reached out to
me.

We won the next match we played, a league cup fixture against
Southampton. But afterwards, I felt a little … hollow. I didn't have my
grandfather to share the victory with. One of the things in football,
and in life, that I'm most proud of is that I have been able to share my
greatest moments with my family. But in that moment, when I desperately
wanted to speak with my grandfather, I couldn't. So instead I began to
reflect.

I thought about everything football had given me. And I
thought about what I wanted my legacy to be. I knew how lucky I was to
have the opportunities I'd had - and that not everyone has a family like
mine. And even though I've been engaged with charities before, I knew
that I wanted to do something more. I want to make sure that other kids
get the chances I had.

So starting today, I am pledging 1 per cent of my salary to Common Goal, a collective fund - run by the award-winning NGO streetfootballworld - that supports football charities around the world. It's a small gesture that if shared can change the world.

I'm
asking my fellow professionals to join me in forming a Common Goal
Starting XI. Together we can create a movement based on shared values
that can become integral to the whole football industry - forever.

I am leading this effort, but I don't want to be alone.

One of the first lessons I learned in football is that it takes a
team to accomplish your dreams. We live by this mantra on the pitch, yet
we don't see it enough in the social space. Common Goal is creating a
collaborative way for football to give back to society. It's the most
effective and sustainable way that football can deliver long-term social
impact on a global scale. Football has the power to do this, but we
need to act together.

The focus now is on contributions from
players, but the long-term goal is to unlock 1% of the entire football
industry's revenues for grassroots football charities that strengthen
their communities through sport.

Just last month, I travelled to
Mumbai, India, to see one such charity. We went to a slum just outside
the main city, and at first it was very hard to comprehend the level of
poverty. No child should have to live like that. Seeing the conditions,
my spirits were a bit down.

But then we started interacting with
the local kids. Their English wasn't great, and I'm not sure all of them
even knew that I was a football player, but we communicated through
laughter and the sport. If I smiled, they smiled. If I ran, they ran.

They
knew we were there to help, and there was this tangible energy in the
air. And, I think, in the same way that I gave my grandfather life -
these children were giving me life.

So now I would like to call
upon my fellow footballers to help. We have so many opportunities simply
because we play a children's game. We are so lucky to live a dream.
Let's come together and help kids everywhere experience that same light
and joy. By doing so we can show the wider football industry that Common
Goal needs to happen and that it will happen, because it's right.

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